Global Tourism Plastic Initiative launched

The Travel Foundation has today announced its commitment to tackle plastic pollution as part of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, led by the UN Environment Programme and the World Tourism Organisation, in collaboration with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.

The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative unites the tourism sector behind a common vision to address the root causes of plastic pollution. It enables businesses and governments to take concerted action, leading by example in the shift towards a circular economy for plastics.

As a member of the Advisory Committee for the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, the Travel Foundation has helped co-create the initiative, including its menu of commitments for tourism organisations. These cover:

• eliminisanje problematične ili nepotrebne plastične ambalaže i predmeta do 2025. godine;
• taking action to move from single-use to reuse models or reusable alternatives by 2025;
• engaging the value chain to move towards 100% of plastic packaging to be reusable, recyclable, or compostable;
• taking action to increase the amount of recycled content across all plastic packaging and items used;
• obavezujući se na saradnju i ulaganje u povećanje stope recikliranja i kompostiranja plastike;
• javno i godišnje izvještavanje o napretku ostvarenom prema ovim ciljevima.

Jeremy Sampson, Chief Executive of the Travel Foundation, said:

“Through the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, we are creating a supportive network for businesses and governments to close the loop around plastic. The Travel Foundation has dugi rekord of successfully working with hotels and other businesses to reduce their plastic and other waste. This is currently our focus in Kipar, Mauritius and Saint Lucia, where we are working at both policy and operational level. This coming May, with our partners in Slovenia, we will convene an event to bring together public and private stakeholders and international experts, to drive forward their ambition to eliminate or reuse plastic items in tourism.”

Developed by the Sustainable Tourism Programme of the One Planet network, a multi-stakeholder partnership to implement the sustainable development goal on Sustainable Consumption and Production (SDG 12), the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative acts as the tourism sector interface of the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment, which unites more than 450 businesses, governments, and other organisations behind a common vision and targets to address plastic waste and pollution at its source. As such, the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative will implement the New Plastics Economy vision, framework and definitions to mobilise the global tourism industry towards concerted significant action against plastic pollution.

Ligia Noronha, UN Environment Programme Economy Division Director, said:

“Plastic pollution is one of the major environmental challenges of our time, and tourism has an important role to play in contributing to the solution. Through the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, tourism companies and destinations are supported to innovate, eliminate and circulate the way they use plastics, to help achieve circularity in the use of plastics and reduce plastics pollution globally.”

Mr. Zurab Pololikashvili, Secretary-General of the World Tourism Organization, said the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative is a great opportunity for tourism companies and destinations to step forward and lead the global effort addressing plastic pollution:

“Frontrunning tourism companies and destinations will set quantifiable targets as part of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative and accelerate the transformation of the tourism sector towards more integrated solutions and circular business models”.

The Global Tourism Plastics Initiative aims to stop plastic ending up as pollution while also reducing the amount of new plastic that needs to be produced. To realise this vision, tourism companies and destinations commit to eliminate the plastic items they don’t need; innovate so all plastics they do need are designed to be safely reused, recycled, or composted; and circulate everything they use to keep it in the economy and out of the environment.

Gerald Naber, New Plastics Economy Global Commitment Programme Manager, said:

“The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment unites more than 450 businesses, governments and others behind a clear vision of a circular economy for plastics. We welcome the launch of the Global Tourism Plastics Initiative, led by UNEP and UNWTO, koji ujedinjuje turistički sektor iza ove vizije za svijet u kojem plastika nikada ne postaje otpad ili zagađenje. Biće to izazovno putovanje, ali kroz usklađenu akciju možemo eliminisati plastiku koja nam nije potrebna i uvesti inovacije, tako da plastika koja nam je potrebna može biti bezbedno i lako cirkulisana – držeći je u ekonomiji i van životne sredine.”

Prelaskom na kružno korištenje plastike, sektor turizma može dati pozitivne doprinose poput smanjenja deponija, zagađenja, iscrpljivanja prirodnih resursa i emisija stakleničkih plinova; podizanje svijesti o očuvanju među osobljem i gostima kako bi se izbjegli plastični proizvodi za jednokratnu upotrebu; utjecaj na svoje dobavljače da proizvode održivije alternative plastičnim proizvodima za jednokratnu upotrebu; rad sa vladama na poboljšanju lokalne infrastrukture za otpad i objekata u zajednici; i stvaranje održivih sredstava za život i dugoročnog prosperiteta zajednice u skladu sa prirodom.

Poduzimajući ozbiljnu akciju na koordiniran i odlučan način u vezi sa zagađenjem plastikom, sektor turizma može pomoći u očuvanju i zaštiti mjesta i divljih životinja koje čine destinacije vrijednim posjeta.